Determination of home routing capability of a neutral host network

ABSTRACT

A neutral home network (NHN) may support home-routed traffic between a user equipment (UE) and a network of a mobile network operator (MNO) associated with the UE. The NHN may transmit an access point name (APN) that indicates a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (ID) to the UE. If the NHN supports home-routed traffic, the NHN may transmit an APN that indicates an MNO PLMN ID. If the NHN does not support home-routed traffic, the NHN may transmit an APN that indicates an NHN PLMN ID. From the APN, the UE may determine whether the NHN supports home-routed traffic. If the NHN supports home-routed traffic, the UE may transmit a packet data network (PDN) connectivity request to the NHN. If the NHN does not support home-routed traffic, the UE may establish a tunnel to the MNO network through Internet access provided by the NHN.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/355,159, entitled “DETERMINATION OF HOME ROUTING CAPABILITY OF ANEUTRAL HOST NETWORK” and filed on Jun. 27, 2016, which is expresslyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, andmore particularly, to a neutral host network that may providehome-routed traffic to a user equipment.

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustelecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employmultiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication withmultiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of suchmultiple-access technologies include code division multiple access(CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency divisionmultiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous codedivision multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in varioustelecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enablesdifferent wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national,regional, and even global level. An example telecommunication standardis 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of a continuous mobile broadbandevolution promulgated by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) tomeet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security,scalability (e.g., with Internet of Things (IoT)), and otherrequirements. Some aspects of 5G NR may be based on the 4G Long TermEvolution (LTE) standard. There exists a need for further improvementsin 5G NR technology. These improvements may also be applicable to othermulti-access technologies and the telecommunication standards thatemploy these technologies.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects inorder to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary isnot an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intendedto neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nordelineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is topresent some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In wireless communications system, a neutral host network (NHN) mayprovide a wireless network with connectivity (e.g., Internetconnectivity) servicing user equipment (UE). The NHN may providescalable network deployments to service UEs from a plurality serviceprovides of a plurality of mobile networks. Such network deployments ofan NHN may be self-contained. An NHN may operate according to one ormore wireless standards, such as LTE, LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U),LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), License Assisted Access (LAA), fifth generation(5G) new radio (NR), Wi-Fi, and/or other radio access technologies.

The MulteFire Alliance may specify an NHN architecture based on 3GPPEvolved Packet System (EPS) architecture. This architecture may allowself-contained deployment of NHNs independently by venues andenterprises with relatively minimal interworking with mobile networkoperators (MNOs).

In various aspects, an NHN deployment may support home-routed trafficand/or local breakout. For home-routed traffic, an NHN may route trafficassociated with a UE through a home network of the UE—e.g., the NHN mayroute traffic through a gateway (e.g., serving gateway) associated withthe MNO that services the UE. For example, an NHN may route a request toa packet data network (PDN) from a UE to a packet gateway (PGW) (alsoknown as a PDN gateway) of a home public land mobile network (PLMN) ofthe UE (e.g., a PLMN provided by an MNO of the UE). For local breakout,the NHN may refrain from routing traffic through a home network of theUE. Instead, the NHN may provide network access and connectivity (e.g.,Internet connectivity) to the UE. For example, the NHN may route arequest to a PDN to a gateway associated with the NHN.

When the UE requests specialized services, such as Internet protocol(IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS) voice and voice-over-LTE (VoLTE), the UEmay initiate PDN connectivity. The UE may initiate PDN connectivitythrough the an NHN. However, when an NHN only provides local breakout(e.g., Internet connectivity), the UE may access operator services(e.g., voice) by tunneling with the MNO associated with the UE.

In an aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readable medium,and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be configured toreceive, from a UE, an attach request. The apparatus may be furtherconfigured to determine an access point name (APN) for the UE based onwhether home-routed traffic is supported between a network of an MNO andthe UE and based on the received attach request. The apparatus may befurther configured to transmit the determined APN to the UE. In anaspect, an APN is unspecified in the attach request. In an aspect, theAPN indicates an MNO PLMN identifier (ID) or an NHN PLMN ID. In anaspect, apparatus may be configured to determine the APN based onwhether home-routed traffic is supported between the network of the MNOand the UE and based on the received attach request by identifying theMNO associated with the UE based on the attach request, determiningwhether home-routed traffic is supported based on the identified MNO,and determining the APN based on the determination of whetherhome-routed traffic is supported. In an aspect, the attach requestincludes an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) associatedwith the UE, and the identification of the MNO associated with the UE isbased on the IMSI. In an aspect, the apparatus may be further configuredto route traffic from the UE to a PGW associated with the network of theMNO using an S2a interface based on whether home-routed traffic issupported. In an aspect, the apparatus may be configured to provide, tothe UE, Internet access based on whether home-routed traffic is notsupported.

In another aspect of the disclosure, another method, anothercomputer-readable medium, and another apparatus are provided. The otherapparatus may be a UE. The other apparatus may be configured totransmit, to a NHN, an attach request. The other apparatus may befurther configured to receive, from the NHN, an APN based on the attachrequest. The other apparatus may be further configured to determine,based on the APN, whether the NHN supports home-routed traffic through anetwork of a MNO associated with the UE. The other apparatus may befurther configured to connect to the network of the MNO based on thedetermination of whether the NHN supports the home-routed traffic. In anaspect, an APN is unspecified in the attach request. In an aspect, theattach request includes an IMSI associated with the UE. In an aspect,the APN indicates an MNO PLMN ID or an NHN PLMN ID. In an aspect, theother apparatus may determine whether the NHN supports the home-routedtraffic by determining that the NHN supports the home-routed trafficwhen the APN indicates the MNO PLMN ID, and determining that the NHNdoes not support the home-routed traffic when the APN indicates the NHNPLMN ID. In an aspect, the other apparatus may be configured to connectto the network of the MNO based on the determination of whether the NHNsupports the home-routed traffic by transmitting, to the NHN, a PDNconnectivity request when the NHN supports the home-routed traffic. Inan aspect, the other apparatus may be configured to connect to thenetwork of the MNO based on the determination of whether the NHNsupports the home-routed traffic by establishing an Internet protocolsecurity (IPsec) tunnel to an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG)associated with the network of the MNO when the NHN does not supporthome-routed traffic. In an aspect, the other apparatus may be furtherconfigured to communicate with the ePDG using an SWu interface. In anaspect, the other apparatus may be further configured to access anInternet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service after theconnection to the network of the MNO.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communicationssystem and an access network.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D are diagrams illustrating examples of a DLframe structure, DL channels within the DL frame structure, an UL framestructure, and UL channels within the UL frame structure, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a base station and userequipment (UE) in an access network.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a wireless communications system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flowbetween different means/components in an exemplary apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementationfor an apparatus employing a processing system.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flowbetween different means/components in an exemplary apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus employing a processing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of various configurations and isnot intended to represent the only configurations in which the conceptsdescribed herein may be practiced. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that these concepts may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well known structures and components areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented withreference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methodswill be described in the following detailed description and illustratedin the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits,processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as “elements”).These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computersoftware, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements areimplemented as hardware or software depends upon the particularapplication and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

By way of example, an element, or any portion of an element, or anycombination of elements may be implemented as a “processing system” thatincludes one or more processors. Examples of processors includemicroprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs),central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors,systems on a chip (SoC), baseband processors, field programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gatedlogic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardwareconfigured to perform the various functionality described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more processors in the processing system mayexecute software. Software shall be construed broadly to meaninstructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code,programs, subprograms, software components, applications, softwareapplications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects,executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whetherreferred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription language, or otherwise.

Accordingly, in one or more example embodiments, the functions describedmay be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software, the functions may be stored on or encoded asone or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.Computer-readable media includes computer storage media. Storage mediamay be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise arandom-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electricallyerasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of theaforementioned types of computer-readable media, or any other mediumthat can be used to store computer executable code in the form ofinstructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communicationssystem and an access network 100. The wireless communications system(also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes basestations 102, UEs 104, and an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160. The basestations 102 may include macro cells (high power cellular base station)and/or small cells (low power cellular base station). The macro cellsinclude base stations. The small cells include femtocells, picocells,and microcells.

The base stations 102 (collectively referred to as Evolved UniversalMobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network(E-UTRAN)) interface with the EPC 160 through backhaul links 132 (e.g.,S1 interface). In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 mayperform one or more of the following functions: transfer of user data,radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, headercompression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dualconnectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setupand release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS)messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network(RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriberand equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging,positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 maycommunicate directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC 160) with eachother over backhaul links 134 (e.g., X2 interface). The backhaul links134 may be wired or wireless.

The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Eachof the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for arespective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlappinggeographic coverage areas 110. For example, the small cell 102′ may havea coverage area 110′ that overlaps the coverage area 110 of one or moremacro base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell andmacro cells may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneousnetwork may also include Home Evolved Node Bs (eNBs) (HeNBs), which mayprovide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group(CSG). The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and theUEs 104 may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link)transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and/or downlink (DL)(also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use multiple-input andmultiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatialmultiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmit diversity. The communicationlinks may be through one or more carriers. The base stations 102/UEs 104may use spectrum up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100 MHz) bandwidthper carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to a total of YxMHz (x component carriers) used for transmission in each direction. Thecarriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. Allocation ofcarriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or lesscarriers may be allocated for DL than for UL). The component carriersmay include a primary component carrier and one or more secondarycomponent carriers. A primary component carrier may be referred to as aprimary cell (PCell) and a secondary component carrier may be referredto as a secondary cell (SCell).

Certain UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device(D2D) communication link 192. The D2D communication link 192 may use theDL/UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 192 may use one or moresidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel(PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physicalsidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel(PSCCH). D2D communication may be through a variety of wireless D2Dcommunications systems, such as for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia,Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

The wireless communications system may further include a Wi-Fi accesspoint (AP) 150 in communication with Wi-Fi stations (STAs) 152 viacommunication links 154 in a 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum. Whencommunicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the STAs 152/AP 150may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communicating inorder to determine whether the channel is available.

The small cell 102′ may operate in a licensed and/or an unlicensedfrequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum,the small cell 102′ may employ NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensedfrequency spectrum as used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102′,employing NR in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage toand/or increase capacity of the access network.

The gNodeB (gNB) 180 may operate in millimeter wave (mmW) frequenciesand/or near mmW frequencies in communication with the UE 104. When thegNB 180 operates in mmW or near mmW frequencies, the gNB 180 may bereferred to as an mmW base station. Extremely high frequency (EHF) ispart of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters.Radio waves in the band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. NearmmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHzand 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications usingthe mmW/near mmW radio frequency band has extremely high path loss and ashort range. The mmW base station 180 may utilize beamforming 184 withthe UE 104 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and shortrange.

The EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, otherMMES 164, a Serving Gateway (SGW) 166, a Multimedia Broadcast MulticastService (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC)170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may be incommunication with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 isthe control node that processes the signaling between the UEs 104 andthe EPC 160. Generally, the MME 162 provides bearer and connectionmanagement. All user Internet protocol (IP) packets are transferredthrough the SGW 166, which itself is connected to the PDN Gateway 172.The PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation as well as otherfunctions. The PDN Gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to the IPServices 176. The IP Services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet,an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS Streaming Service, and/or otherIP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functions for MBMS user serviceprovisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serve as an entry point forcontent provider MBMS transmission, may be used to authorize andinitiate MBMS Bearer Services within a public land mobile network(PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to the base stations 102belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) areabroadcasting a particular service, and may be responsible for sessionmanagement (start/stop) and for collecting eMBMS related charginginformation.

The base station may also be referred to as a gNB, Node B, evolved NodeB (eNB), an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio basestation, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic serviceset (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), or some other suitableterminology. The base station 102 provides an access point to the EPC160 for a UE 104. Examples of UEs 104 include a cellular phone, a smartphone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system,a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3player), a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearabledevice, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a toaster, or anyother similar functioning device. Some of the UEs 104 may be referred toas IoT devices (e.g., parking meter, gas pump, toaster, vehicles, etc.).The UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, asubscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, aremote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wirelesscommunications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, anaccess terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remoteterminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or someother suitable terminology.

Referring again to FIG. 1, in certain aspects, the base station 102 maybe a component of a neutral host network (NHN) 199. The UE 104 may beconfigured to establish a connection 198 to a network of a mobilenetwork operator (MNO) based on whether the NHN 199 supports home-routedtraffic for the MNO. In aspects, the UE 104 may transmit, to an NHN 199through the eNB 102, an attach request. The UE 104 may receive, from theNHN 199 through the eNB 102, an access point name (APN) based on theattach request. The UE 104 may then determine, based on the APN, whetherthe NHN 199 supports home-routed traffic through a network of the MNO.The UE 104 may then establish the connection 198 to the network of theMNO based on the determination of whether the NHN 199 supportshome-routed traffic. In one aspect, the UE 104 may transmit a PDNconnectivity request when the UE 104 determines that the NHN 199supports home-routed traffic. However, when the NHN 199 does not supporthome-routed traffic, the UE 104 may establish an IP security (IPsec)tunnel to an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) associated with thenetwork of the MNO.

Correspondingly, the NHN 199 may be configured to receive, from the UE104, an attach request. The NHN 199 may be configured to determine theAPN for the UE 104 based on whether home-routed traffic is supportedbetween the network of the MNO and the UE 104 and based on the receivedattach request. The NHN 199 may be further configured to transmit thedetermined APN to the UE 104. In an aspect, the NHN 199 may beconfigured to determine the APN based on whether home-routed traffic issupported between the network of the MNO and the UE 104 and based on thereceived attach request by identifying the MNO associated with the UE104 based on the attach request, determining whether home-routed trafficis supported based on the identified MNO, and determining the APN basedon the determination of whether home-routed traffic is supported. In anaspect, the identification of the MNO associated with the UE 104 isbased on the IMSI of the UE 104. In an aspect, the NHN 199 may befurther configured to route traffic from the UE 104 to a PGW associatedwith the network of the MNO using an S2a interface based on whetherhome-routed traffic is supported. In an aspect, the NHN 199 may beconfigured to provide, to the UE 104, Internet access based on whetherhome-routed traffic is not supported.

FIG. 2A is a diagram 200 illustrating an example of a DL framestructure. FIG. 2B is a diagram 230 illustrating an example of channelswithin the DL frame structure. FIG. 2C is a diagram 250 illustrating anexample of an UL frame structure. FIG. 2D is a diagram 280 illustratingan example of channels within the UL frame structure. Other wirelesscommunication technologies may have a different frame structure and/ordifferent channels. A frame (10 ms) may be divided into 10 equally sizedsubframes. Each subframe may include two consecutive time slots. Aresource grid may be used to represent the two time slots, each timeslot including one or more time concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (alsoreferred to as physical RBs (PRBs)). The resource grid is divided intomultiple resource elements (REs). For a normal cyclic prefix, an RB maycontain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7consecutive symbols (for DL, OFDM symbols; for UL, SC-FDMA symbols) inthe time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix,an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. Thenumber of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, some of the REs carry DL reference (pilot)signals (DL-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The DL-RS may includecell-specific reference signals (CRS) (also sometimes called common RS),UE-specific reference signals (UE-RS), and channel state informationreference signals (CSI-RS). FIG. 2A illustrates CRS for antenna ports 0,1, 2, and 3 (indicated as R₀, R₁, R₂, and R₃, respectively), UE-RS forantenna port 5 (indicated as R₅), and CSI-RS for antenna port 15(indicated as R).

FIG. 2B illustrates an example of various channels within a DL subframeof a frame. The physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) iswithin symbol 0 of slot 0, and carries a control format indicator (CFI)that indicates whether the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)occupies 1, 2, or 3 symbols (FIG. 2B illustrates a PDCCH that occupies 3symbols). The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI) withinone or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including nine REgroups (REGs), each REG including four consecutive REs in an OFDMsymbol. A UE may be configured with a UE-specific enhanced PDCCH(ePDCCH) that also carries DCI. The ePDCCH may have 2, 4, or 8 RB pairs(FIG. 2B shows two RB pairs, each subset including one RB pair). Thephysical hybrid automatic repeat request (ARQ) (HARQ) indicator channel(PHICH) is also within symbol 0 of slot 0 and carries the HARQ indicator(HI) that indicates HARQ acknowledgement (ACK)/negative ACK (NACK)feedback based on the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). Theprimary synchronization channel (PSCH) may be within symbol 6 of slot 0within subframes 0 and 5 of a frame. The PSCH carries a primarysynchronization signal (PSS) that is used by a UE 104 to determinesubframe/symbol timing and a physical layer identity. The secondarysynchronization channel (SSCH) may be within symbol 5 of slot 0 withinsubframes 0 and 5 of a frame. The SSCH carries a secondarysynchronization signal (SSS) that is used by a UE to determine aphysical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Basedon the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identitygroup number, the UE can determine a physical cell identifier (PCI).Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the locations of theaforementioned DL-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH), whichcarries a master information block (MIB), may be logically grouped withthe PSCH and SSCH to form a synchronization signal (SS) block. The MIBprovides a number of RBs in the DL system bandwidth, a PHICHconfiguration, and a system frame number (SFN). The physical downlinkshared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system informationnot transmitted through the PBCH such as system information blocks(SIBs), and paging messages.

As illustrated in FIG. 2C, some of the REs carry demodulation referencesignals (DM-RS) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE mayadditionally transmit sounding reference signals (SRS) in the lastsymbol of a subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and a UE maytransmit SRS on one of the combs. The SRS may be used by a base stationfor channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent schedulingon the UL.

FIG. 2D illustrates an example of various channels within an UL subframeof a frame. A physical random access channel (PRACH) may be within oneor more subframes within a frame based on the PRACH configuration. ThePRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs within a subframe. The PRACHallows the UE to perform initial system access and achieve ULsynchronization. A physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may belocated on edges of the UL system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplinkcontrol information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, a channelquality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rankindicator (RI), and HARQ ACK/NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data, andmay additionally be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a powerheadroom report (PHR), and/or UCI.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a base station 310 in communication with aUE 350 in an access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 maybe provided to a controller/processor 375. The controller/processor 375implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality. Layer 3 includes a radioresource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a packet dataconvergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, anda medium access control (MAC) layer. The controller/processor 375provides RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of systeminformation (e.g., MIB, SIBs), RRC connection control (e.g., RRCconnection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connectionmodification, and RRC connection release), inter radio access technology(RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurementreporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with headercompression/decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrityprotection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLClayer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer packetdata units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation,segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs),re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; andMAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channelsand transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks(TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling informationreporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logicalchannel prioritization.

The transmit (TX) processor 316 and the receive (RX) processor 370implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signalprocessing functions. Layer 1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer,may include error detection on the transport channels, forward errorcorrection (FEC) coding/decoding of the transport channels,interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels,modulation/demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antennaprocessing. The TX processor 316 handles mapping to signalconstellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binaryphase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK),M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation(M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split intoparallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier,multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/orfrequency domain, and then combined together using an Inverse FastFourier Transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a timedomain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded toproduce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channelestimator 374 may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme,as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derivedfrom a reference signal and/or channel condition feedback transmitted bythe UE 350. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a differentantenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318TX. Each transmitter 318TX maymodulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream fortransmission.

At the UE 350, each receiver 354RX receives a signal through itsrespective antenna 352. Each receiver 354RX recovers informationmodulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the receive(RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signalprocessing functions. The RX processor 356 may perform spatialprocessing on the information to recover any spatial streams destinedfor the UE 350. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 350,they may be combined by the RX processor 356 into a single OFDM symbolstream. The RX processor 356 then converts the OFDM symbol stream fromthe time-domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform(FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbolstream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on eachsubcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated bydetermining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted bythe base station 310. These soft decisions may be based on channelestimates computed by the channel estimator 358. The soft decisions arethen decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signalsthat were originally transmitted by the base station 310 on the physicalchannel. The data and control signals are then provided to thecontroller/processor 359, which implements layer 3 and layer 2functionality.

The controller/processor 359 can be associated with a memory 360 thatstores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as acomputer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller/processor 359provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packetreassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signalprocessing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. Thecontroller/processor 359 is also responsible for error detection usingan ACK and/or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

Similar to the functionality described in connection with the DLtransmission by the base station 310, the controller/processor 359provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information(e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurementreporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with headercompression/decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering,integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionalityassociated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correctionthrough ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs,re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; andMAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channelsand transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto TBs,demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting,error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channelprioritization.

Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator 358 from a referencesignal or feedback transmitted by the base station 310 may be used bythe TX processor 368 to select the appropriate coding and modulationschemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streamsgenerated by the TX processor 368 may be provided to different antenna352 via separate transmitters 354TX. Each transmitter 354TX may modulatean RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

The UL transmission is processed at the base station 310 in a mannersimilar to that described in connection with the receiver function atthe UE 350. Each receiver 318RX receives a signal through its respectiveantenna 320. Each receiver 318RX recovers information modulated onto anRF carrier and provides the information to a RX processor 370.

The controller/processor 375 can be associated with a memory 376 thatstores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as acomputer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller/processor 375provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packetreassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processingto recover IP packets from the UE 350. IP packets from thecontroller/processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. Thecontroller/processor 375 is also responsible for error detection usingan ACK and/or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a wireless communications system 400. In aspects,the wireless communications system 400 may include at least one UE 402,an NHN 420, an NHN gateway (GW) 430, and a network 450 of an MNO. In anaspect, the wireless communications system 400 may include an LTE and/orLTE-Advanced network (e.g., the MNO network 450 may include an LTE orLTE-Advanced network), a 5G NR network, or another wireless networkbased on one or more wireless standards (e.g., a 3GPP standard).

An NHN 420 may provide a wireless network with connectivity (e.g.,Internet connectivity) servicing one or more UEs (e.g., the UE 402). TheNHN 420 may provide scalable network deployments to service UEs from aplurality service providers of a plurality of mobile networks. In anaspect, the NHN 420 may be self-contained. The NHN 420 may operate basedon one or more wireless standards, such as LTE, LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U),LTE-A, License Assisted Access (LAA), 5G NR, Wi-Fi, and/or other radioaccess technologies (e.g., a trusted non-3GPP access network).

The MulteFire Alliance may specify an NHN architecture based on 3GPPEvolved Packet System (EPS) architecture. This architecture may allowself-contained deployment of NHNs independently by venues andenterprises with relatively minimal interworking with MNOs (e.g., theMNO associated with the network 450). In an aspect, the NHN 420,including the NHN GW 430, may include a MulteFire network.

In various aspects, the NHN 420 may support home-routed traffic and/orlocal breakout (LBO). For home-routed traffic, the NHN 420 may routetraffic associated with the UE 402 through a home network 450 of theUE—e.g., the NHN may route traffic through a gateway associated with theMNO network 450 that services the UE. For example, the NHN 420 may routea request to a PDN from the UE 402 to a PGW 462 of a home PLMN of the UE402 (e.g., the MNO network 450). For LBO, the NHN 420 may refrain fromrouting traffic through the home network 450 of the UE 402. Instead, theNHN 420 may provide network access and connectivity (e.g., Internetconnectivity) to the UE 402. For example, the NHN may route a request toa PDN to a GW 424 associated with the NHN 420.

In some aspects, networks (e.g., NHN 420 and MNO network 450) mayoperate with overlapping coverage areas. For example, a MulteFirenetwork may include APs and/or eNB(s) 422 communicating in an unlicensedradio frequency spectrum band (e.g., without a licensed frequency anchorcarrier). For example, the MulteFire network may operate without ananchor carrier in the licensed spectrum. While the present disclosurereferences eNBs (e.g., eNB 422, eNB 452), one of ordinary skill willappreciate that the present disclosure is applicable to other basestation implementations, such as gNBs.

The UE 402 may be an aspect of the UE 104 of FIG. 1 and/or the UE 350 ofFIG. 3. In various aspects, the UE 402 may be configured to operatebased on a MulteFire standard in the wireless communications system 400(e.g., the UE 402 may be configured to communicate over an unlicensedspectrum, for example, based on an LTE-U and/or LAA standard). Accordingto various aspects, the UE 402 may include at least a subscriberidentity module (SIM) 404, an Extensible Authentication Protocol Methodfor Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Authentication andKey Agreement (EAP-AKA) Prime (EAP-AKA′) component 406, a radio 408, andan IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) component 410. The SIM 404 may be anintegrated circuit that stores an international mobile subscriberidentity (IMSI) associated with the UE 402. The SIM 404 may furtherinclude a key for authentication. The SIM 404 may be associated with anMNO. That is, the UE 402 may connect to a network 450 of the MNO usingthe SIM 404, and the UE 402 may receive services through the MNO network450. Accordingly, the UE 402 may be associated with an MNO providing theMNO network 450.

The EAP-AKA′ component 406 may provide an authentication mechanism andsession key distribution in association with the SIM 404. The EAP-AKA′component 406 may provide non-3GPP access to a 3GPP core network.

The SIM 404 and the EAP-AKA′ component 406 may be communicativelycoupled with a radio 408. The radio 408 may be, for example, an LTEradio, LTE-U radio, LAA radio, a radio associated with another wirelessstandard, or a radio configured to operate based on a plurality ofwireless standards. In aspects, the radio 408 may include a PHY layer,as well as one or more other layers of a radio protocol architecture(e.g., an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, and/or a MAC layer).

In aspects, the UE 402 may include an IMS component 410. The IMScomponent 410 may be configured to provide IP multimedia services forthe UE 402. For example, the IMS component 410 may be configured toprovide voice-over-IP (VoIP) services, voice-over-LTE (VoLTE),video-over-LTE (ViLTE), and/or other services through IP. The IMScomponent 410 may be configured to access IMS services available throughthe MNO providing the network 450 associated with the UE 402 via theradio 408.

The wireless communications system 400 may include at least one NHN 420.The NHN 420 may include at least one eNB 422 (e.g., the base station 102and/or the base station 310). The eNB 422 may be configured tocommunicate with a GW 424 and/or an MME 426 of the NHN 420, for example,using an S1 interface. The MME 426 may include a control node thatprocesses the signaling between the UE 402 and the NHN 420. For example,the MME 426 may provide bearer and connection management. The GW 424 maybe configured to communicate with the Internet and Services 480 (e.g.,IP services). In some aspects, the NHN 420 may provide, through the GW424, LBO to various devices (e.g., the UE 402) operating in the NHN 420.

The NHN 420 may further include a home eNB management system (HeMS) 428.The HeMS 428 may be configured to provide various management functionsfor an eNB (e.g., the eNB 422), such as configuration management, faultmanagement, and/or performance management. Further, the HeMS 428 may beconfigured to provide identity and location verification of an eNB(e.g., the eNB 422), as well as discovery and assignment of a servingHeMS, a serving GW (e.g., the GW 424), and/or an MME (e.g., the MME426).

In the NHN 420, the MME 426 may be configured to communicate with an NHNGW 430. The NHN GW 430 may provide a hub function for a plurality of NHNnetworks and/or facilitate communication between the NHN 420 and anothernetwork, such as the MNO network 450. In an aspect, the NHN GW 430includes an authentication hub 432. The authentication hub 432 mayprovide authentication services for communication between the NHN 420and another network, such as the MNO network 450. In aspects, the MME426 may communicate with an HSS of another network, e.g., the HSS 454using an S6a interface, through the authentication hub 432. In anaspect, the MME 426 may be further configured to communicate, throughthe authentication hub 432, with an Authentication, Authorization, andAccounting (AAA) service of another network, e.g., the AAA 456 using anSTa interface.

In an aspect, the NHN GW 430 may further include a general radio packetservice (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) hub 434. In an aspect, trafficfrom the MME 426 may be communicated to another GW through the GTP hub434. For example, the MME 426 may route traffic to the PGW 462 of theMNO network 450 using an S2a interface 440.

In an aspect, the NHN GW 430 may further include a key performanceindicator (KPI) monitoring component 438. In an aspect, the HeMS 238 maybe configured to communicate through the KPI monitoring component 438,for example, with an operations support system (OSS)/business supportsystem (BSS) 464 of the MNO network 450.

As described, supra, the MNO network 450 may be a network associatedwith the UE 402—e.g., the MNO network 450 may be a home network of theUE 402. The MNO network 450 may include at least an MNO eNB 452 (e.g.,the base station 102 and/or the base station 310). The MNO eNB 452 maybe configured to communicate with various components of the MNO network450, for example, using an S1 interface. The MNO network 450 may furtherinclude an HSS 454, an AAA 456, an MME 458, an SGW 460, and a PGW 462.

According to aspects, the MNO network 450 provides an IMS service 468.Examples of IMS service 468 include IMS voice and/or video service,VoLTE, ViLTE, Rich Communication Services (RCS), and/or another IPmultimedia service. In an aspect, the IMS service 468 may becommunicatively coupled with a public-switched telephone network (PSTN)482, e.g., for IMS voice calling. In aspects, the MNO network 450further includes an ePDG 466. The ePDG 466 may provide secure access toan EPC network (e.g., EPC 160), for example, using tunnel authenticationand authorization. Through the ePDG 466, traffic to the IMS service 468may be secure, for example, when communicated over the Internet andServices 480.

In an aspect, the UE 402 may need to register with a network, forexample, in order to receive an IMS service (e.g., when the UE 402 isturned on, when an IMS service is requested, and/or when a home networkof the UE 402 is unavailable). Accordingly, the UE 402 may perform anattach procedure to register with a network. The UE 402 may be within acoverage area of an eNB 422 of the NHN 420. The UE 402 may generate anattach request 412 to register with the NHN 420. However, the UE 402 maynot specify an APN in the attach request 412. For example, the NHN 420may not be a home network of the UE 402 and, therefore, the UE 402 mayneed to determine how to connect to a home network (e.g., the MNOnetwork 450) through the NHN 420. In aspects, the attach request 412 mayinclude an IMSI of the UE 402 (e.g., from the SIM 404). The UE 402 maytransmit the attach request 412 to the eNB 422 of the NHN 420, and theeNB 422 may provide this attach request 412 to the MME 426 of the NHN420.

In aspects, the MME 426 may receive the attach request 412. Based on theattach request 412, the MME 426 may determine whether home-routedtraffic is supported between the MNO network 450 and the UE 402. In anaspect, the MME 426 may identify an MNO associated with the UE 402 basedon the attach request 412. For example, the MME 426 may identify an IMSIassociated with the UE 402 in the attach request 412. The MME 426 mayidentify the MNO providing the network 450 and associated with the UE402 from the IMSI.

Based on identification of the MNO providing the network 450, the MME426 may be configured to determine whether home-routed traffic issupported between the MNO network 450 and the UE 402. In an aspect, theMME 426 may access a policy that indicates whether home-routed trafficis supported by the NHN 420 for the MNO providing the MNO network 450. Apolicy may include stored data accessible by the MME 426 defining anagreement or cooperation between the NHN 420 and the MNO providing theMNO network 450. Accordingly, the MME 426 may access such stored data toidentify whether the stored data indicates the NHN 420 is allowed toroute traffic between the UE 402 associated with the MNO and the network450 provided by the MNO. In another aspect, the MME 426 may determinewhether the NHN 420 is communicatively coupled with the MNO network450—such as by determining whether a path exists in the wirelesscommunications system 400 allowing the NHN 420 to communicate with theMNO network 450. When the NHN 420 is not communicatively coupled withthe MNO network 450, then the NHN 420 may be unable to route trafficbetween the UE 402 and the MNO network 450.

Based on the determination of whether the home-routed traffic issupported between the MNO network 450 and the UE 402, the MME 426 maydetermine an APN 414 for the UE 402. The APN 414 may indicate a PLMNidentifier (ID). A PLMN ID may be at least one value (e.g., a value, atuple, etc.) that identifies a PLMN. An example of a PLMN ID includes amobile country code (MCC) and a mobile network code (MNC), which may bea tuple. Such an example may be applicable to MNOs. In another example,an NHN PLMN ID (e.g., an NHN PLMN ID associated with the NHN 420) may bean ID associated with the NHN, such as an ID assigned by a centralorganization or selected by the NHN deployment (e.g., random selection).

If home-routed traffic is not supported, the MME 426 may determine thatthe APN 414 for the UE 402 should be an NHN PLMN ID. In such an aspect,the NHN 420 may support LBO, e.g., the NHN 420 may provide Internetconnectivity for the UE 402 (e.g., the Internet and Services 480) butdoes not route traffic associated with the UE 402 between the MNOnetwork 450. According to an example, the APN 414 may beInternet-4.apn.epc.mnc910.mcc487.3gppnetwork.org, where 910-487 is aPLMN ID reserved for the NHN 420.

If home-routed traffic is supported, the MME 426 may determine that theAPN 414 for the UE 402 should be an MNO PLMN ID. In such an aspect, theNHN 420 may support home-routed traffic, e.g., the NHN 420 may routetraffic from the UE 402 to the MNO network 450 using the S2a interface440. According to an example, the APN 414 may beInternet-4.apn.epc.mnc111.mcc222.3gppnetwork.org, where 111-222 is aPLMN ID reserved for the MNO network 450.

The MME 426 may then provide the APN 414 to the UE 402, e.g., throughthe eNB 422. The UE 402 may receive the APN 414. As described, supra,the APN 414 may indicate either an NHN PLMN ID or an MNO PLMN ID. The UE402 may be configured to determine, from the APN 414, whether the PLMNID is an NHN PLMN ID or an MNO PLMN ID. For example, the UE 402 mayidentify, in the APN 414, the PLMN ID. The UE 402 may compare the PLMNID identified from the APN 414 to at least one value (e.g., tuple)stored by the UE 402 that indicates the PLMN ID of the MNO associatedwith the UE 402 (e.g., the at least one value may be stored inassociation with the SIM 404).

In an aspect, the UE 402 may determine that the NHN 420 supportshome-routed traffic to the MNO network 450 when the APN 414 indicatesthe MNO PLMN ID. For example, the UE 402 may determine whether the PLMNID identified from the APN 414 matches or corresponds to an MNO PLMN IDstored at the UE 402. When the PLMN ID identified from the APN 414matches or corresponds to an MNO PLMN ID stored at the UE 402, the UE402 may determine that the NHN 420 does support home-routed traffic.

In an aspect, the UE 402 may determine that the NHN 420 does not supporthome-routed traffic (e.g., the NHN 420 supports LBO) when the APNindicates the NHN PLMN ID. For example, the UE 402 may determine whetherthe PLMN ID identified from the APN 414 matches or corresponds to an MNOPLMN ID stored at the UE 402. When the PLMN ID identified from the APN414 does not match or correspond to an MNO PLMN ID stored at the UE 402,the UE 402 may determine that the NHN 420 does not support home-routedtraffic. In another example, the UE 402 may determine that the PLMN IDidentified from the APN 414 is associated with an NHN, such as bydetermining that the PLMN ID identified from the APN 414 does notinclude a valid or recognized MCC and MNC, by determining that the PLMNID identified from the APN 414 is of a format corresponding to an NHNdeployment, and/or by determining that the PLMN ID identified from theAPN 414 includes at least one value (e.g., tuple) reserved for NHNdeployments.

Based on whether the NHN 420 supports home-routed traffic, the UE 402may connect to the MNO network 450 using one of a plurality ofapproaches. If UE 402 determines that the NHN 420 supports home-routedtraffic, then the UE 402 may initiate a PDN connectivity procedure, forexample, to access an IMS service via IMS component 410 (e.g., initiatean IMS voice call). In an aspect, the UE 402 may transmit, to the NHN420, a PDN connectivity request 416. In an aspect, the UE 402 mayperform one or more operations in accordance with a 3GPP TechnicalSpecification (TS), such as 3GPP TS 23.401, § 5.10.2 (titled, “UErequested PDN connectivity”). For example, the UE 402 may send the PDNconnectivity request 416 as described in 3GPP TS 23.401, § 5.10.2.

If UE 402 determines that the NHN 420 does not support home-routedtraffic, then the UE 402 may connect to the MNO network 450 byestablishing an IPsec tunnel 418 to the ePDG 466, for example, to accessan IMS service via IMS component 410 (e.g., initiate an IMS voice call).The UE 402 may receive Internet connectivity (e.g., LBO to Internet andServices 480) from the NHN 420 when the NHN 420 does not supporthome-routed traffic between the UE 402 and the MNO network 450. However,the UE 402 may connect to the MNO network 450 through the Internet andServices 480 using the NHN 420. The IPsec tunnel 418 established by theUE 402 to the ePDG 466 may be transparent to the NHN 420 (e.g., the NHN420 views this IPsec tunnel as ordinary Internet traffic), but the UE402 may receive the IMS service 468 provided by the MNO network 450. Inan aspect, the UE 402 may communicate with the ePDG 466 using an SWuinterface 442. In an aspect, the UE 402 may perform one or moreoperations in accordance with a 3GPP TS, such as 3GPP TS 23.402, § 7.2(titled, “Initial Attach on S2b”). For example, the UE 402 may establishthe IPsec tunnel 418 as described in 3GPP TS 23.402, § 7.2.

After connecting to the MNO network 450, the UE 402 may access the IMSservice 468. For example, the UE 402 may establish an IMS voice call.

When the NHN 420 supports home-routed traffic, the MME 426 may receivethe PDN connectivity request from the UE 402. Based on the PDNconnectivity request, the MME 426 may establish a connection with thePGW 462. The MME 426 may then route traffic between the PGW 462 and theUE 402, for example, using the S2a interface 440.

When the NHN 420 does not support home-routed traffic, the MME 426 mayprovide connectivity to the UE 402 for the Internet and Services 480(e.g., LBO). Using the established IPsec tunnel 418, the UE 402 maytunnel to the ePDG 466 via the NHN 420 in order to access IMS service468. For example, the UE 402 may establish an IMS voice call over theIPsec tunnel 418 to the ePDG 466.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method 500 of wireless communication. Themethod may be performed by an NHN system (e.g., the MME 426 of the NHN420, the apparatus 702/702′). Although FIG. 5 illustrates a plurality ofoperations, one of ordinary skill will appreciate that one or moreoperations may be transposed and/or contemporaneously performed.Further, one or more operations of FIG. 5 may be optional (e.g., asdenoted by dashed lines) and/or performed in connection with one or moreother operations.

Beginning first with operation 502, the NHN system may receive, from aUE, an attach request. In aspects, the attach request may not specify anAPN. The attach request may include an IMSI associated with the UE. Inthe context of FIG. 4, the MME 426 may receive, from the UE 402, theattach request 412.

At operation 504, the NHN system may determine an APN for the UE basedon whether home-routed traffic is supported between a network of an MNOand the UE and based on the attach request. For example, the NHN systemmay identify an MNO associated with the UE. The NHN system may access apolicy that indicates whether the NHN system is to provide home-routedtraffic for UEs associated with the MNO and/or the NHN system mayidentify a path between the NHN system and a network provided by theidentified MNO.

When home-routed traffic is supported, the NHN system may determine thatthe APN is to indicate an MNO PLMN ID. Accordingly, the MNO may identifya PLMN ID of the MNO and the NHN may generate an APN that includes theidentified MNO PLMN ID. When home-routed traffic is not supported, thenthe NHN system may determine that the APN is to indicate an NHN PLMN ID.Accordingly, the MNO may identify an ID of the NHN to be used as a PLMNID and the NHN may generate an APN that includes the identified NHN ID(included as an NHN PLMN ID).

In the context of FIG. 4, the MME 426 may determine the APN 414 for theUE 402. For example, the MME 426 may determine whether home-routedtraffic to the MNO network 450 is supported. When the MME 426 determinesthat home-routed traffic to the MNO network is supported, the MME 426may identify a PLMN ID associated with the MNO providing the network450. When the MME 426 determines that home-routed traffic to the MNO isunsupported, the MME 426 may identify an ID of the NHN 420 to use as thePLMN ID. The MME 426 may generate an APN 414 that indicates theidentified one of the MNO PLMN or the NHN PLMN ID.

In various aspects, operation 504 may include operation 520, operation522, and operation 524. At operation 520, the NHN system may identifythe MNO associated with the UE based on the attach request. For example,the NHN system detect an IMSI included in the attach request, and theNHN system may identify an MNO that corresponds to the identified IMSI.In the context of FIG. 4, the MME 426 may identify the MNO providing thenetwork 450 from the IMSI included in the attach request 412.

At operation 522, the NHN system may determine whether home-routedtraffic is supported between a network of the MNO and the UE based onthe identified MNO. For example, the NHN system may access a policy thatindicates whether the NHN system is to provide home-routed traffic forUEs associated with the MNO and/or the NHN system may identify a pathbetween the NHN system and a network provided by the identified MNO. Ifthe accessed policy indicates that home-routed traffic is supported forthe MNO and/or a path is identified, then the NHN system may determinethat home-routed traffic is supported between the network of the MNO andthe UE. If the accessed policy indicates that home-routed traffic isunsupported for the MNO and/or a path is not identified, then the NHNsystem may determine that home-routed traffic is unsupported between thenetwork of the MNO and the UE. In the context of FIG. 4, the MME 426 maydetermine whether home-routed traffic is supported between the MNOnetwork 450 and the UE 402 based on the identified MNO (i.e., the MNOproviding the network 450).

At operation 524, the NHN system may determine the APN based on thedetermination of whether home-routed traffic is supported, as describedin operation 504. When home-routed traffic is supported, for example,the NHN system may identify at least one value (e.g., an MNC and MCC)associated with the MNO and may generate a network address that includesthe identified at least one value (e.g.,Internet-4.apn.epc.mnc111.mcc222.3gppnetwork.org, where 111-222 is theidentified at least one value (e.g., 111 is the MNC and 222 is the MCC).When home-routed traffic is unsupported, for example, the NHN system mayidentify at least one value associated with the NHN and may generate anetwork address that includes the identified at least one value (e.g.,Internet-4.apn.epc.mnc910.mcc487.3gppnetwork.org, where 111-222 is theidentified at least one value (e.g., 910-487 may be a PLMN ID reservedfor NHN deployments).

At operation 506, the NHN system may transmit, to the UE, the determinedAPN. For example, the NHN system may provide the determined APN to asystem (e.g., base station) and indicate to the system to send thedetermined APN to the UE based on the attach request received from theUE (e.g., the NHN system may identify the UE in association with thedetermined APN). In the context of FIG. 4, the MME 426 may transmit, tothe UE 402 through the eNB 422, the APN 414.

If home-routed traffic is supported between the UE and the MNO network,then the NHN system may provide PDN connectivity to the UE. Thus, atoperation 508, the NHN system may route traffic associated with the UEto a PGW of the MNO network using an S2a interface. In an aspect, theNHN system may receive a PDN connectivity request from the UE toestablish the connection to the PGW for the UE. The NHN system mayestablish a PDN connection between the UE and the PGW based on the PDNconnectivity request. Using the PDN connection, the NHN system may routetraffic to and from the UE to the PGW through the NHN. In the context ofFIG. 4, the MME 426 may route traffic associated with the UE 402 throughthe PGW 462 using the S2a interface 440. In aspects, the MME 426 mayestablish a connection to the PGW 462 based on a PDN connectivityrequest received from the UE 402.

If home-routed traffic is unsupported between the UE and the MNOnetwork, then the NHN system may provide Internet connectivity to theUE, such as through LBO. Thus, at operation 510, the NHN system mayprovide Internet access to the UE. For example, the NHN system may causetraffic associated with the UE to be routed through a GW of the NHN, andthe NHN system may provide Internet connectivity to the UE through theNHN. In the context of FIG. 4, the MME 426 may provide access to theInternet and Services 480 to the UE 402 (e.g., through LBO) when the NHN420 does not support home-routed traffic between the UE 402 and the MNOnetwork 450. For example, the MME 426 may cause traffic associated withthe UE 402 to be routed through GW 424, and the MME 426 may provideconnectivity to Internet and Services 480 through the NHN 420.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method 600 of wireless communication. Themethod may be performed by a UE (e.g., the UE 402, the apparatus902/902′). Although FIG. 6 illustrates a plurality of operations, one ofordinary skill will appreciate that one or more operations may betransposed and/or contemporaneously performed. Further, one or moreoperations of FIG. 6 may be optional (e.g., as denoted by dashed lines)and/or performed in connection with one or more other operations.

Beginning first with operation 602, the UE may transmit, to an NHN, anattach request. In aspects, the attach request may not specify an APN.The attach request may include an IMSI. For example, the UE may identifyan IMSI associated with the UE, and the UE may generate an attachrequest that includes the identified IMSI but does not define an APN. Inthe context of FIG. 4, the UE 402 may transmit, to the NHN 420, theattach request 412. The UE 402 may generate the attach request 412 basedon an IMSI associated with the SIM 404 (e.g., the UE 402 may generate anattach request that includes an IMSI stored by the SIM 404).

At operation 604, the UE may receive, from the NHN, an APN based on theattach request. For example, the UE may be scheduled to receive adownlink message from the NHN, and the UE may listen or detect for thedownlink message on scheduled resource(s). The UE may then receive thedownlink message, which includes the APN. In an aspect, the APN mayindicate either an NHN PLMN ID or an MNO PLMN ID. For example, the APNmay include a network address, and the network address may indicate atleast one value associated with a PLMN ID. In the context of FIG. 4, theUE 402 may receive, from the NHN 420 through the eNB 422, the APN 414.

At operation 606, the UE may determine, based on the APN, whether theNHN supports home-routed traffic through a network of an MNO associatedwith the UE. For example, the UE may identify at least one valueincluded in the APN that is associated with a PLMN ID. The UE may thendetermine if the identified PLMN ID is associated with an MNO associatedwith the UE or if the identified PLMN ID is associated with the NHN.

In the context of FIG. 4, the UE 402 may determine, based on the APN414, whether the NHN 420 supports home-routed traffic through the MNOnetwork 450. For example, the UE 402 may determine whether the PLMNidentified in the APN 414 matches or corresponds to a PLMN ID of the MNOproviding the network 450 and, therefore, the NHN 420 supportshome-routed traffic. In another example, the UE 402 may determine thatthe PLMN identified in the APN 414 is not the PLMN ID of the MNOproviding the network 450 and/or is associated with the NHN 420 and,therefore, may determine that home-routed traffic is unsupported by theNHN 420.

In various aspects, operation 606 may include operation 620 andoperation 622. At operation 620, the UE may determine that the NHNsupports home-routed traffic when the APN indicates an MNO PLMN ID. Inone aspect, the UE may compare the PLMN ID identified from the APN to anMNO PLMN ID stored at the UE (e.g., an MNO PLMN ID associated with anMNO that provides a home network to the UE). When the PLMN ID identifiedfrom the APN matches or corresponds to an MNO PLMN ID stored at the UE,the UE may determine that the NHN does support home-routed traffic. Inthe context of FIG. 4, the UE 402 may determine that the NHN 420supports home-routed traffic when the APN 414 indicates a PLMN IDassociated with the MNO providing the network 450.

At operation 622, the UE may determine that the NHN does not supporthome-routed traffic when the APN indicates an NHN PLMN ID. In oneaspect, the UE may compare the PLMN ID identified from the APN to an MNOPLMN ID stored at the UE (e.g., an MNO PLMN ID associated with an MNOthat provides a home network to the UE). When the PLMN ID identifiedfrom the APN does not match or correspond to an MNO PLMN ID stored atthe UE, the UE may determine that the NHN does not support home-routedtraffic. In another aspect, the UE may determine that the PLMN IDidentified from the APN is associated with an NHN. When the UEdetermines that the PLMN ID identified from the APN is associated withan NHN, the UE may determine that the NHN does not support home-routedtraffic. In the context of FIG. 4, the UE 402 may determine that the NHN420 does not support home-routed traffic when the APN 414 indicates anNHN PLMN ID (e.g., a PLMN ID associated with the NHN 420).

Based on the determination of whether the NHN supports home-routedtraffic, the UE may connect to the network of the MNO. If the NHNsupports home-routed traffic, the method 600 may proceed to operation608. At operation 608, the UE may connect to the network of the MNO bytransmitting, to the NHN, a PDN connectivity request. For example, theUE may generate a PDN connectivity request, transmit the generated PDNconnectivity request to the NHN, and establish a PDN connection throughthe NHN. Thus, traffic from the UE may be routed to the network of theMNO while the UE is attached to the NHN. In the context of FIG. 4, theUE 402 may transmit, to the NHN 420, a PDN connectivity request, andtraffic from the UE 402 may be routed to the MNO network 450 using theS2a interface 440.

If the NHN does not support home-routed traffic, the method 600 mayproceed to operation 610. At operation 610, the UE may connect to thenetwork of the MNO by establishing an IPsec tunnel to an ePDG associatedwith the network of the MNO. In effect, the UE may cause traffic fromthe UE to reach the MNO network using the Internet connectivity providedby the NHN (e.g., through LBO). For example, the UE may transmit arequest associated with an IPsec tunnel to the ePDG, through theInternet connectivity provided by the NHN via LBO. Based on the request,the UE and the ePDG may establish an IPsec tunnel associated with IMSservices of the MNO network. In the context of FIG. 4, the UE 402 mayestablish an IPsec tunnel 418 to the ePDG 466 through the Internet andServices 480, which are provided through LBO by the NHN 420.

At operation 612, the UE may communicate with the ePDG using an SWuinterface. This communication may be transparent to the NHN (e.g., theNHN may view this communication using the SWu interface as conventionalInternet traffic). For example, the UE may generate data (e.g., IMStraffic) and may cause this traffic to be transmitted over theestablished IPsec tunnel. In the context of FIG. 4, the UE 402 maycommunicate with the ePDG 466 using the SWu interface 442.

After connecting to the network of the MNO (e.g., as described atoperation 608 or at operations 610, 612), the UE may access an IMSservice, such as IMS voice. For example, the UE may generate traffic andcause this traffic to be sent to the MNO network for the IMS service. Inan aspect, the traffic may be IMS multimedia, such as voice or videocalling. In the context of FIG. 4, the IMS component 410 of the UE 402may access the IMS service 468 provided by the MNO network 450. Forexample, the UE 402 may access IMS voice calling through the IMS service468 and/or connect to PSTN 482.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual data flow diagram 700 illustrating the data flowbetween different means/components in an exemplary apparatus 702. Theapparatus may be a part of an NHN system, e.g., the MME 426 of the NHN420. The apparatus includes a reception component 704 configured toreceive signals, e.g., from the UE 750. In an aspect, the receptioncomponent 704 may receive, from the UE 750, an attach request. Thereception component 704 may provide the attach request to an MNOidentification component 712.

The MNO identification component 712 may be configured to identify anMNO associated with the UE 750. In an aspect, the MNO identificationcomponent 712 may be configured to identify an IMSI associated with theUE 750 from the attach request. The MNO identification component 712 maybe configured to identify an MNO associated with the UE 750 based on theIMSI. The MNO identification component 712 may provide the identifiedMNO to an APN determination component 714.

The APN determination component 714 may be configured to determine anAPN for the UE 750 based on whether home-routed traffic is supportedbetween a network of the MNO and the UE 750. In an aspect, the APNdetermination component 714 may determine whether home-routed traffic issupported by checking a policy that indicates whether home-routedtraffic is supported for the identified MNO. If the home-routed trafficis supported for the MNO, the APN determination component 714 maydetermine that the APN is to indicate an MNO PLMN ID. If the home-routedtraffic is not supported for the MNO, the APN determination component714 may determine that the APN is to indicate an NHN PLMN ID. The APNdetermination component 714 may then provide the APN to a transmissioncomponent 710, and the transmission component 710 may cause transmissionof the determined APN to the UE 750.

The reception component 704 may further receive traffic from the UE 750.If home-routing traffic is supported between a network of the MNO andthe UE 750, then the reception component 704 may provide the traffic toa home routing component 706. The home routing component 706 may beconfigured to route traffic from the UE to a PGW associated with thenetwork of the MNO using an S2a interface. If home-routing traffic isnot supported, then the reception component 704 may provide the trafficto an LBO component 708. The LBO component 708 may be configured toprovide, to the UE 750, Internet access (e.g., through LBO).

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 5. Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 5 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or more hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

FIG. 8 is a diagram 800 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 702′ employing a processing system 814.The processing system 814 may be implemented with a bus architecture,represented generally by the bus 824. The bus 824 may include any numberof interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system 814 and the overall designconstraints. The bus 824 links together various circuits including oneor more processors and/or hardware components, represented by theprocessor 804, the components 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, 714, and thecomputer-readable medium/memory 806. The bus 824 may also link variousother circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators,and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, andtherefore, will not be described any further.

The processing system 814 may be coupled to a transceiver 810. Thetransceiver 810 is coupled to one or more antennas 820. The transceiver810 provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus overa transmission medium. The transceiver 810 receives a signal from theone or more antennas 820, extracts information from the received signal,and provides the extracted information to the processing system 814,specifically the reception component 704. In addition, the transceiver810 receives information from the processing system 814, specificallythe transmission component 710, and based on the received information,generates a signal to be applied to the one or more antennas 820. Theprocessing system 814 includes a processor 804 coupled to acomputer-readable medium/memory 806. The processor 804 is responsiblefor general processing, including the execution of software stored onthe computer-readable medium/memory 806. The software, when executed bythe processor 804, causes the processing system 814 to perform thevarious functions described supra for any particular apparatus. Thecomputer-readable medium/memory 806 may also be used for storing datathat is manipulated by the processor 804 when executing software. Theprocessing system 814 further includes at least one of the components704, 706, 708, 710, 712, 714. The components may be software componentsrunning in the processor 804, resident/stored in the computer readablemedium/memory 806, one or more hardware components coupled to theprocessor 804, or some combination thereof. The processing system 814may be a component of an MME, such as the MME 426. However, theprocessing system 814 may include one or more components described inFIG. 3 with respect to the eNB 310, such as the memory 376 and/or atleast one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and thecontroller/processor 375.

In one configuration, the apparatus 702/702′ for wireless communicationincludes means for receiving, from a UE, an attach request. Theapparatus 702/702′ may further include means for determining an APN forthe UE based on whether home-routed traffic is supported between anetwork of a MNO and the UE and based on the received attach request.The apparatus 702/702′ may further include means for transmitting thedetermined APN to the UE. In an aspect, an APN is unspecified in theattach request. In an aspect, the APN indicates an MNO PLMN ID or an NHNPLMN ID. In an aspect, the means for determining the APN based onwhether home-routed traffic is supported between the network of the MNOand the UE and based on the received attach request is configured toidentify the MNO associated with the UE based on the attach request,determine whether home-routed traffic is supported based on theidentified MNO, and determine the APN based on the determination ofwhether home-routed traffic is supported. In an aspect, the attachrequest includes an IMSI associated with the UE, and wherein theidentification of the MNO associated with the UE is based on the IMSI.The apparatus 702/702′ may further include means for routing trafficfrom the UE to a PGW associated with the network of the MNO using an S2ainterface based on whether home-routed traffic is supported. Theapparatus 702/702′ may further include means for providing, to the UE,Internet access based on whether home-routed traffic is not supported.

The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementionedcomponents of the apparatus 702 and/or the processing system 814 of theapparatus 702′ configured to perform the functions recited by theaforementioned means. While the processing system 814 may be included inan MME or other component of an NHN, the processing system 814 mayinclude the TX Processor 316, the RX Processor 370, and thecontroller/processor 375, as described supra. As such, in oneconfiguration, the aforementioned means may be the TX Processor 316, theRX Processor 370, and the controller/processor 375 configured to performthe functions recited by the aforementioned means.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual data flow diagram 900 illustrating the data flowbetween different means/components in an exemplary apparatus 902. Theapparatus may be a UE. The apparatus includes a network attach component916. The network attach component 916 may be configured to generate anattach request, for example, to register with an NHN. The attach requestmay not specify an APN. The attach request may indicate an IMSIassociated with the apparatus 902. The network attach component 916 mayprovide the attach request to a transmission component 910. Thetransmission component 910 may transmit the attach request to the NHN950 (e.g., to an MME of the NHN 950).

Based on the attach request, the reception component 904 may receive,from the NHN 950, an APN. The reception component 904 may be configuredto provide the APN to a connectivity determination component 914. Theconnectivity determination component 914 may be configured to determine,based on the APN, whether the NHN 950 supports home-routed trafficthrough a network of an MNO associated with the apparatus 902. In anaspect, the APN indicates either an MNO PLMN ID or an NHN PLMN ID. Theconnectivity determination component 914 may be configured to identifythe MNO PLMN ID or the NHN PLMN ID from the APN. The connectivitydetermination component 914 may be configured to determine that the NHN950 supports home-routed traffic through a network of the MNO when theAPN indicates the MNO PLMN ID. The connectivity determination component914 may be configured to determine that the NHN 950 does not supporthome-routed traffic when the APN indicates the NHN PLMN ID.

If the connectivity determination component 914 determines thathome-routed traffic is supported, the connectivity determinationcomponent 914 may provide an indication of such to a PDN connectivitycomponent 906. The PDN connectivity component 906 may be configured togenerate a PDN connectivity request, for example, so that the apparatus902 may receive an IMS service that is routed to a network of the MNOassociated with the apparatus 902. The PDN connectivity component 906may provide this PDN connectivity request to the transmission component910. The transmission component 910 may transmit, to the NHN 950, thePDN connectivity request. Thus, the apparatus 902 may connect to anetwork of the MNO through PDN connectivity, which may use an S2ainterface between an MME of the NHN 950 and a PGW of the MNO network.

If the connectivity determination component 914 determines thathome-routed traffic is not supported, the connectivity determinationcomponent 914 may provide an indication of such to an IPsec tunnelcomponent 908. The IPsec tunnel component 908 may be configured toestablish an IPsec tunnel to an ePDG associated with a network of theMNO, for example, so that the apparatus 902 may receive an IMS servicethrough a secure tunnel even though traffic associated with that IMSservice may traverse the pubic Internet. The IPsec tunnel component 908may provide a request to establish the IPsec tunnel to the transmissioncomponent 910. The transmission component 910 may transmit, to an ePDGof the MNO network, the request through the NHN 950 (e.g., the NHN 950may provide LBO). Thus, the apparatus 902 may connect to a network ofthe MNO through LBO. The IPsec tunnel component 908 may communicate withthe ePDG using an SWu interface.

According to an aspect, the apparatus 902 may receive an IMS servicefrom the MNO network after connecting to the MNO network. Trafficassociated with that IMS service may be directed through the PDNconnectivity component 906 when home-routed is supported by the NHN 950or may be directed through the IPsec tunnel component 908 whenhome-routed traffic is not supported by the NHN 950.

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 6. Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 6 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or more hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

FIG. 10 is a diagram 1000 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 902′ employing a processing system 1014.The processing system 1014 may be implemented with a bus architecture,represented generally by the bus 1024. The bus 1024 may include anynumber of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system 1014 and the overall designconstraints. The bus 1024 links together various circuits including oneor more processors and/or hardware components, represented by theprocessor 1004, the components 904, 906, 908, 910, 914, 916, and thecomputer-readable medium/memory 1006. The bus 1024 may also link variousother circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators,and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, andtherefore, will not be described any further.

The processing system 1014 may be coupled to a transceiver 1010. Thetransceiver 1010 is coupled to one or more antennas 1020. Thetransceiver 1010 provides a means for communicating with various otherapparatus over a transmission medium. The transceiver 1010 receives asignal from the one or more antennas 1020, extracts information from thereceived signal, and provides the extracted information to theprocessing system 1014, specifically the reception component 904. Inaddition, the transceiver 1010 receives information from the processingsystem 1014, specifically the transmission component 910, and based onthe received information, generates a signal to be applied to the one ormore antennas 1020. The processing system 1014 includes a processor 1004coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 1006. The processor 1004 isresponsible for general processing, including the execution of softwarestored on the computer-readable medium/memory 1006. The software, whenexecuted by the processor 1004, causes the processing system 1014 toperform the various functions described supra for any particularapparatus. The computer-readable medium/memory 1006 may also be used forstoring data that is manipulated by the processor 1004 when executingsoftware. The processing system 1014 further includes at least one ofthe components 904, 906, 908, 910, 914, 916. The components may besoftware components running in the processor 1004, resident/stored inthe computer readable medium/memory 1006, one or more hardwarecomponents coupled to the processor 1004, or some combination thereof.The processing system 1014 may be a component of the UE 350 and mayinclude the memory 360 and/or at least one of the TX processor 368, theRX processor 356, and the controller/processor 359.

In one configuration, the apparatus 902/902′ for wireless communicationincludes means for transmitting, to an NHN, an attach request. Theapparatus 902/902′ may further include means for receiving, from theNHN, an APN based on the attach request. The apparatus 902/902′ mayfurther include means for determining, based on the APN, whether the NHNsupports home-routed traffic through a network of a MNO associated withthe UE. The apparatus 902/902′ may further include means for connectingto the network of the MNO based on the determination of whether the NHNsupports the home-routed traffic. In an aspect, an APN is unspecified inthe attach request. In an aspect, the attach request includes an IMSIassociated with the UE. In an aspect, the APN indicates an MNO PLMN IDor an NHN PLMN ID.

In an aspect, the means for determining whether the NHN supports thehome-routed traffic is configured to determine that the NHN supports thehome-routed traffic when the APN indicates the MNO PLMN ID, anddetermine that the NHN does not support the home-routed traffic when theAPN indicates the NHN PLMN ID. In an aspect, the means for connecting tothe network of the MNO based on the determination of whether the NHNsupports the home-routed traffic is configured to transmit, to the NHN,a PDN connectivity request when the NHN supports the home-routedtraffic. In an aspect, the means for connecting to the network of theMNO based on the determination of whether the NHN supports thehome-routed traffic is configured to establish an IPsec tunnel to anePDG associated with the network of the MNO when the NHN does notsupport home-routed traffic. The apparatus 902/902′ may further includemeans for communicating with the ePDG using an SWu interface. Theapparatus 902/902′ may further include means for accessing an IMSservice after the connection to the network of the MNO.

The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementionedcomponents of the apparatus 902 and/or the processing system 1014 of theapparatus 902′ configured to perform the functions recited by theaforementioned means. As described supra, the processing system 1014 mayinclude the TX Processor 368, the RX Processor 356, and thecontroller/processor 359. As such, in one configuration, theaforementioned means may be the TX Processor 368, the RX Processor 356,and the controller/processor 359 configured to perform the functionsrecited by the aforementioned means.

It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in theprocesses/flowcharts disclosed is an illustration of exemplaryapproaches. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that thespecific order or hierarchy of blocks in the processes/flowcharts may berearranged. Further, some blocks may be combined or omitted. Theaccompanying method claims present elements of the various blocks in asample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order orhierarchy presented.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” The word “exemplary” is used hereinto mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspectdescribed herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects. Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Combinations such as“at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, or C,” “at least oneof A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or anycombination thereof” include any combination of A, B, and/or C, and mayinclude multiples of A, multiples of B, or multiples of C. Specifically,combinations such as “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B,or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” and“A, B, C, or any combination thereof” may be A only, B only, C only, Aand B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, where any such combinationsmay contain one or more member or members of A, B, or C. All structuraland functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspectsdescribed throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to beknown to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporatedherein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims.Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to thepublic regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited inthe claims. The words “module,” “mechanism,” “element,” “device,” andthe like may not be a substitute for the word “means.” As such, no claimelement is to be construed as a means plus function unless the elementis expressly recited using the phrase “means for.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication for a neutralhome network (NHN), the method comprising: receiving, from a userequipment (UE), an attach request; determining whether home-routedtraffic is supported based on a mobile network operator (MNO);determining an access point name (APN) for the UE based on whether thehome-routed traffic is supported between a network of the MNO and the UEand based on the received attach request; and transmitting thedetermined APN to the UE.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein an APN isunspecified in the attach request.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theAPN indicates an MNO public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (ID)or an NHN PLMN ID.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determinationof the APN based on whether the home-routed traffic is supported betweenthe network of the MNO and the UE and based on the received attachrequest further comprises identifying the MNO associated with the UEbased on the attach request.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein theattach request includes an international mobile subscriber identity(IMSI) associated with the UE, and wherein the identification of the MNOassociated with the UE is based on the IMSI.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising: routing traffic from the UE to a packet gateway(PGW) associated with the network of the MNO using an S2a interfacebased on whether home-routed traffic is supported.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: providing, to the UE, Internet access whenthe home-routed traffic is unsupported.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the determining the APN is further based on home-routed trafficsupport by the MNO.
 9. A method of wireless communication for a userequipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting, to a neutral homenetwork (NHN), an attach request; receiving, from the NHN, an accesspoint name (APN) based on the attach request; determining, based on theAPN, whether the NHN supports home-routed traffic through a network of amobile network operator (MNO) associated with the UE, wherein thehome-routed traffic is supported by the NHN when the APN indicates anMNO public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (ID) and thehome-routed traffic is unsupported by the NHN when the APN indicates anNHN PLMN ID; and connecting to the network of the MNO based on thedetermination of whether the NHN supports the home-routed traffic. 10.The method of claim 9, wherein an APN is unspecified in the attachrequest.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the attach request includesan international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) associated with theUE.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the APN indicates the MNO PLMN IDor the NHN PLMN ID.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein thedetermination of whether the NHN supports the home-routed trafficcomprises: determining that the NHN supports the home-routed trafficwhen the APN indicates the MNO PLMN ID; and determining that the NHNdoes not support the home-routed traffic when the APN indicates the NHNPLMN ID.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the connection to thenetwork of the MNO based on the determination of whether the NHNsupports the home-routed traffic comprises: transmitting, to the NHN, apacket data network (PDN) connectivity request when the NHN supports thehome-routed traffic.
 15. The method of claim 9, wherein the connectionto the network of the MNO based on the determination of whether the NHNsupports the home-routed traffic comprises: establishing an Internetprotocol security (IPsec) tunnel to an evolved packet data gateway(ePDG) associated with the network of the MNO when the NHN does notsupport home-routed traffic.
 16. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising: communicating with the ePDG using an SWu interface.
 17. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: accessing an Internet Protocol(IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service after the connection to thenetwork of the MNO.
 18. An apparatus for wireless communication in aneutral home network (NHN), the apparatus comprising: means forreceiving, from a user equipment (UE), an attach request; means fordetermining whether home-routed traffic is supported based on a mobilenetwork operator (MNO); means for determining an access point name (APN)for the UE based on whether the home-routed traffic is supported betweena network of the MNO and the UE and based on the received attachrequest; and means for transmitting the determined APN to the UE. 19.The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the APN indicates an MNO public landmobile network (PLMN) identifier (ID) or an NHN PLMN ID.
 20. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein the means for determining the APN basedon whether home-routed traffic is supported between the network of theMNO and the UE and based on the received attach request is configuredto: identify the MNO associated with the UE based on the attach request;determine whether home-routed traffic is supported based on theidentified MNO; and determine the APN based on the determination ofwhether home-routed traffic is supported.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20,wherein the attach request includes an international mobile subscriberidentity (IMSI) associated with the UE, and wherein the identificationof the MNO associated with the UE is based on the IMSI.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 18, further comprising: means for routing trafficfrom the UE to a packet gateway (PGW) associated with the network of theMNO using an S2 a interface based on whether home-routed traffic issupported.
 23. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising: means forproviding, to the UE, Internet access when the home-routed traffic isunsupported.
 24. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatusbeing a user equipment (UE) and comprising: means for transmitting, to aneutral home network (NHN), an attach request; means for receiving, fromthe NHN, an access point name (APN) based on the attach request; meansfor determining, based on the APN, whether the NHN supports home-routedtraffic through a network of a mobile network operator (MNO) associatedwith the UE, wherein the home-routed traffic is supported by the NHNwhen the APN indicates an MNO public land mobile network (PLMN)identifier (ID) and the home-routed traffic is unsupported by the NHNwhen the APN indicates an NHN PLMN ID; and means for connecting to thenetwork of the MNO based on the determination of whether the NHNsupports the home-routed traffic.
 25. The apparatus of claim 24, whereinthe attach request includes an international mobile subscriber identity(IMSI) associated with the UE.
 26. The apparatus of claim 24, whereinthe APN indicates an MNO PLMN ID or an NHN PLMN ID.
 27. The apparatus ofclaim 26, wherein the means for determining whether the NHN supports thehome-routed traffic is configured to: determine that the NHN supportsthe home-routed traffic when the APN indicates the MNO PLMN ID; anddetermine that the NHN does not support the home-routed traffic when theAPN indicates the NHN PLMN ID.
 28. The apparatus of claim 24, whereinthe means for connecting to the network of the MNO based on thedetermination of whether the NHN supports the home-routed traffic isconfigured to transmit, to the NHN, a packet data network (PDN)connectivity request when the NHN supports the home-routed traffic. 29.The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for connecting to thenetwork of the MNO based on the determination of whether the NHNsupports the home-routed traffic is configured to establish an Internetprotocol security (IPsec) tunnel to an evolved packet data gateway(ePDG) associated with the network of the MNO when the NHN does notsupport home-routed traffic.
 30. The apparatus of claim 29, furthercomprising: means for communicating with the ePDG using an SWuinterface.
 31. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising: means foraccessing an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) serviceafter the connection to the network of the MNO.